Let’s meet the folks whom the Fletcher Student Council profiled in the second of their community introductions. You can find the first of the introductions here.

Moriah (first-year Januarian MALD)

What are you studying at Fletcher?I am studying International Security Studies and International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution (for now!).

What did you do before Fletcher?
I spent time in California doing environmental restoration and trail work. Most recently, I was in Washington, DC working with the Democratic National Committee, managing technology projects.

Where are you from?
I consider myself to be a pan-Southerner.

What is your favorite, most unique place you have ever been or traveled to?
All of Bangkok, but the Grand Palace — with its life-size monkey soldiers holding up one of the palace domes — is my favorite.

Who has been the greatest inspiration in your life?
My grandmother, who came of age in Jim Crow-era Alabama, worked while putting herself through college and raising two children, and was a teacher for over 30 years. Through it all, she has always maintained a sense of humor and curiosity about what life has to hold.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?I once caught a jackrabbit with my bare hands. It was awesome.

Which living person do you most admire?
I really admire Condoleezza Rice and her story.

What has been a challenge you have faced during your career or time at Fletcher?
Choosing a course out of the many here — four semesters is not enough!

What has been your favorite moment at Fletcher so far?
Shopping day was really fun! The ability to explore any course you’re interested in is such a great opportunity.

Dylan (second-year Januarian MIB)

What are you studying at Fletcher?International Business: Strategy and Consulting.

What did you do before Fletcher?
I was a physical commodities trader in Durban, South Africa.

Where are you from?Durban, South Africa.

What is your favorite, most unique place you have ever been or traveled to?Tough question! Although I have traveled extensively, Cape Town in South Africa is still my favorite place and the most beautiful city I have ever seen.

Who has been the greatest inspiration in your life?My father.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?Getting a full scholarship for my undergraduate degree at BYU was a tipping point in my life.

Which living person do you most admire?Desmond Tutu.

What has been a challenge you have faced during your career or time at Fletcher?Braving the Boston winter is a daily struggle — I’m getting better at this.

What has been your favorite moment at Fletcher so far?Being a part of the Januarian Class of 2019 is a blast!

Dave (first-year Januarian PhD)

What are you studying at Fletcher?Security studies, outside intervention into civil wars and humanitarian disasters.

What did you do before Fletcher?Columbia SIPA, think-tanker in Washington.

Where are you from?
Colorado.

What is your favorite, most unique place you have ever been or traveled to?Crested Butte (one of the last great mountain towns).

Who are your favorite writers?Lauryn Hill, Steve Coll, Dr. Seuss.

Who has been the greatest inspiration in your life?
My family.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Staying at home with my new son for the last eight months.

Which living person do you most admire?My wife.

What has been a challenge you have faced during your career or time at Fletcher?
Trying to sneak out of an event after splitting my pants.

What has been your favorite moment at Fletcher so far?Human rights law (took it many summers ago).

Brad Macomber (Media Services Specialist)

What do you do at Fletcher?I am a Media Services Specialist. I help with classroom technology, video conferencing, and events.

What did you do before Fletcher?I was in a similar role at the New England Institute of Art in Brookline for over a decade.

Where are you from?I was born and raised in Marblehead, MA, up on the north shore, a beautiful little town that I highly recommend visiting!

What is your favorite, most unique place you have ever been or traveled to?While it’s not the most unique place in New England, my family always went to Lake Megunticook outside of Camden, ME every summer. It’s the most serene, calming place I can think of.

Who has been the greatest inspiration in your life?My parents. My father was (he recently retired) a doctor in Marblehead and my mother was the head nurse in their office. They both dedicated their entire professional careers to making people comfortable and healthy. I can’t walk through my hometown without people stopping me and telling me a story about something remarkable one of my parents did for them.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?I’d love to say all the touring I’ve done with my various bands, but my relationship with my wife has been and continues to be my greatest achievement.

Which living person do you most admire?Again, it would have to be my parents. They have always provided me with everything I needed and did so (generally) with a smile.

What has been a challenge you have faced during your career or time at Fletcher?Being one person trying to stay on top of all the requests for assistance (which are sometimes inherently last minute) can be very challenging. Fortunately, folks within the Fletcher community are very understanding.

What has been your favorite moment at Fletcher so far?
Commencement and Convocation are two of my favorite times of year, but this year, I received an American flag that had been flown over the Baghdad Embassy as a thank you from a student who recently got their PhD here. It was extremely touching and the flag is framed in my workshop now. Makes me very proud.

Jette Knudsen (Professor of Policy and International Business)

What do you do at Fletcher?I am interested in government regulation of social welfare. I define this topic as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities and employment and training policies that focus on low-skilled workers. My overarching research interest has been to try and understand how governments can contribute to reconciling market pressures with norms of fairness.

What did you do before Fletcher?I worked as an Assistant Professor at the Copenhagen Business School for a few years and I also worked at the Center for European Policy Studies in Brussels. For four years I then served as the Director of a think tank in Copenhagen that focused on CSR and I worked for Maersk (a large shipping and oil conglomerate) as a CSR expert. I also worked as a consultant for Deloitte and PwC. Before coming to Fletcher, I was appointed as a Professor of Political Science at Copenhagen University and I had been on sabbatical for a year at MIT. I am still affiliated with Copenhagen Business School as a Velux Fellow and remain engaged in various research collaborations with my former colleagues.

Where are you from?I grew up in Denmark. I first visited the U.S. when I was 19 years old. I spent a year at a small liberal arts college called Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin funded by the Scandinavian-American Foundation. I liked the U.S. very much and later came back and did a PhD at MIT.

What is your favorite, most unique place you have ever been or traveled to?In December 2017, I saw the Nerja Caves near Malaga, Spain. They were inhabited from about 25,000 BC up until the Bronze Age. Cave paintings, found on the walls, date back to the Paleolithic and Post-Paleolithic periods and show a culture based upon hunting. The caves were amazing.

Who are your favorite writers?One of my favorite books is Memoirs of a Geisha. I read that book on a plane once coming from France when the engine caught fire and we had to make an emergency landing in Switzerland. I hardly noticed the problems because the book was so good.

Who has been the greatest inspiration in your life?My dad, who has always told me to find my own way in life. He did so himself and built an amazing naval architecture company that was engaged in improving shipping transportation all over the world. Another inspiration is Mr. Maersk McKinney Moeller who hired me while I was in graduate school and later to work on sustainability in Maersk. I have a great card from him where he congratulates me for getting into the political science PhD program, and then adds, “Ms. Knudsen please do not forget to focus on real life.” I try to remember that.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?I have a son who is both smart and kind. I can’t really say that he is my greatest achievement as he is clearly his own person, but I am proud of him. He will be attending Tufts next year and I am very pleased.

Which living person do you most admire?I can’t think of a particular person that I most admire. But I do think that having “grace under fire” is an admirable trait. I admire people who face unspeakable tragedy yet are able to carry on.

What has been a challenge you have faced during your career or time at Fletcher?I am not very practical and so the Fletcher IT system can sometimes be a challenge, but I want it to work perfectly every time I am in the classroom. I do not think the students know my limitations because Brad Macomber has always been able to cover for me. Thanks Brad!

What has been your favorite moment at Fletcher so far?Getting tenure as a full professor in the fall 2017.

Since January 10 — our first regular deadline for applications for September enrollment — your applications have been working their way through a process that goes like this:

Receive application
Check application for needed materials
Mark application as complete once all materials are received
Have a student read the application (primarily for MA, MALD, MIB)
Have a staff member read the application
Have faculty members read the application, as appropriate (more for PhDs, fewer for MALD)
Move the application to a virtual “bin,” where it waits until we release decisions.

Quite a few applications are already in their final bin, while many others (including those received by February 10) are still snaking their way through the process. Also on the move: EN applications submitted last fall for which we deferred making a decision to this spring. All will be reviewed again with Committee discussions as necessary.

Once we complete application review for all programs, we’ll release decisions. For applicants offered admission, decisions will be accompanied by scholarship information. Even applications submitted by March 1 (the final deadline for the LLM and MIB programs), will be decided on by the decision date, so long as they are complete on March 1. We don’t yet know on which day we’ll be releasing decisions, but we always aim for the third week of March or earlier. I’ll try to provide a date in March, once all is clear.

Whenever I take a minute to think about it, as I’m doing now, I appreciate how long the review process must feel to applicants. Probably a good number of you are relieved to be done with your applications and to let us do the work for a while. Others find this stretch much less relaxing. To all of you, I just want you to know that we’re working hard on your behalf and we’re pleased with how smoothly the process has gone. Committee discussions are respectful and are helping to shape our reading and our future class. We still have another month or so in front of us before we’ll release decisions, but I hope it’s helpful to have a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes process.

Continuing an annualtradition, it’s Valentine’s Day, which calls for stories of Fletcher couples. I hope you’ll enjoy reading about these eight alumni who gained more than an education from their Fletcher experience. ♥

Eric, F95, and Caroline, F95
We were both dating other people our first year at Fletcher. One of us was unceremoniously dumped at the end of that year, the other nearby with soothing words. Those soothing words continued all summer by phone with Eric in DC and Caroline at Middlebury. Feelings intensified when reunited in Medford that fall, with the minor issue of one outside relationship still in the mix. Awkwardness was averted by hiding behind study dates that were almost always followed by dinner. When the issue finally came to the fore, Eric asked Caroline, “Why are you afraid of trying this?” Her answer: “Because it might work.” Dating ensued. MALDs were minted with no jobs in sight. Caroline went to Philly, Eric to Chicago. We reunited for a Fletcher classmate’s wedding, at which point another Fletcher classmate told us to choose to be together. Engagement followed, though the engagement ring was quickly returned in favor of two tickets to Hong Kong, where we worked, lived, and had two daughters over eight years. We’ve now been together 24 years, married almost 21. We’re happily settled in Seattle and about to send our oldest daughter off to college. How time flies!

The happy couple and their Fletcher friends — in a photo of a print from a pre-digital photo album.

Cass, F16, and Matheus, F16
We met at the New York Career Trip student/alumni reception. After a few months, Matheus asked Cass on a date during Americana Night and she agreed after watching his performance on guitar. We were married in Manhattan at New York City Hall with a handful of friends, totally impromptu. We still wear the wedding bands that we ordered with same-day delivery from Amazon Prime, and we celebrated our first wedding anniversary at our Fletcher graduation together.

Sarah, F10, and Trevor, F11
Sarah and Trevor first met at Fletcher in 2010, and quickly bonded over their shared love of single malt Scotch and Professor Glennon’s classes. In 2014, they made it official at a small wedding at a Virginia winery, attended by Fletcher friends from around the globe. The couple make their home with their pup Diesel in Washington, DC, where Sarah is a Lead Associate at Booz Allen Hamilton and Trevor is the Deputy Head of Policy for the DC office of the International Committee of the Red Cross. They enjoy travel, hiking with Diesel, hanging out with their fellow Fletcher alums in DC, and trying not to be too anxious about the state of the world.

Mary, F88, and Jim, F87, FG89
Fall 1986: Mary arrives at Fletcher as a new first year. Settling into the dorm, she keeps meeting second-year students who say: “Oh, you were in the Peace Corps? You’re interested in Students for Development Studies? You should meet Jim!” Jim returns from a summer internship in Somalia, reconnecting with friends who keep saying: “Hey, there’s a new first-year student you have to meet — her name’s Mary!” And so we were matched before we met. Turns out we had lots more in common than met the eye: similar family backgrounds and deeper values, etc. A year later, we’d been married and welcomed Baby Aaron into our family in Blakeley Hall, where we had taken the job of resident directors. Diapers before diplomas! The Fletcher community was so warm and welcoming; our memories from those days are precious. We headed to Washington, DC with degrees in hand, and Baby #2 on the way. Since then, we’ve lived and worked in Thailand, Jerusalem (where #3 son was born), Croatia, and Vietnam, having wonderful family adventures along with great professional experiences. Both of us still work in international development, currently living at home base in the DC area, where we continue to treasure Fletcher friendships as much as ever.

Great news for our students: Fletcher’s team in the CFA Institute Research Challenge emerged as champions in last night’s Boston-region competition! Presenting their research on the company Boston Scientific, the Fletcher team topped competitors Babson College, Brandeis University, and Hult International in the final round.

The winning team consisted of JP Craven (first-year MIB), Doris Hernandez (second-year MALD), Ashray Dixit (second-year MIB), and our own Admissions Bloggers Mariya and Adi! Professor Patrick Schena was advisor to the team and Office of Career Services Director Elana Givens added her input and attended the competition, as did Dean Bhaskar Chakravorti.

The next round of the challenge will be the North and South Americas regional competition (coincidentally) in Boston on March, with about 50 teams competing. The winner of the regional competition will go to the global competition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in April.

With a new faculty member and new institutional relationships, Fletcher has just launched a Russia and Eurasia Program, which will be co-directed by Professor Daniel Drezner and Professor Chris Miller. The program will support the community’s interest in the area through out-of-class activities such as study abroad exchange programs, study trips, conferences, guest speakers, and research and internship funding. Courses offered jointly with universities in the region, such as MGIMO, will also fall under the new program umbrella.

You can read more on the program’s new website. For timely updates, check out the program on Twitter.

Regardless of where you do your research on Fletcher, you should be aware that all students must pass a language proficiency exam to graduate. The information is included among the degree requirements on the Fletcher website, and for those who like to dig through the blog archives, I’ve also written about it many times

So it is a little surprising how many applicants this year have failed to tell us about their language proficiency by filling out the application completely. Sometimes there’s a cultural element. Folks from India who have studied in English throughout their academic career just assume we’ll know that they speak Hindi or another Indian language. The same is often true for applicants from Anglophone African countries.

But I’m not sure why other native English speakers (particularly U.S. students) aren’t giving us the details we need. We’ll need to look at this over the summer when we do our annual review of the application form. Meanwhile, we’re studying transcripts and résumés, searching for crumbs of information on language study. Does this post make you realize you made a strategic mistake in leaving out your language proficiency details? Send us a note to update us. For students to whom we offer admission, it could be the difference between a regular admission offer and being required to pursue further language study before enrolling.

In December, the Fletcher Student Council launched a new fun initiative to introduce members of the community to each other. Called “Fletcher Features: Get to Know Your Community,” the monthly-ish Q&A was shared by email and, as soon as it hit my inbox, I reached out to ask if I could borrow it for the blog. Fortunately, all involved said yes, and I’ll be sharing these posts when I receive them. I especially like them because the featured community members include students, faculty and staff alike. I also like all the shout-outs for moms!

Robert (first-year MIB)

What are you studying at Fletcher?
I’m concentrating on International Finance & Banking and International Political Economy. I’m also involved in the International Business Club, Finance Club, and FSIG.

What did you do before Fletcher?
I worked in client service for an investment management firm in Boston.

Where are you from?
Grew up in Medfield, MA. Went to school at Northeastern University in Boston.

What is your favorite, most unique place you have ever been or traveled to?
I’ll give you a few: Barcelona, Spain. Howth, Ireland. Brasilito, Costa Rica.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Right now. Challenging myself to go to grad school (when I never thought I would).

Which living person do you most admire?
Warren Buffett.

What has been a challenge you have faced during your career or time at Fletcher?
Tough question. I haven’t been here that long. Maybe Professor Jacque’s class — that’s challenging.

What has been your favorite moment at Fletcher so far?
Africana Night.

Naoko (second-year MIB)

What are you studying at Fletcher?
I’m a second-year MIB and concentrating on “Public Leadership” and International Business and working on a project to create “Lifelong Classrooms” in Japan with a lot of inspiration drawn here.

What did you do before Fletcher?
I’ve worked for the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry in Japan for about six years, where I joined projects such as TPP negotiation between U.S. and Japan on automobile portfolio, hosting G7 Ministerial Meetings in Japan, making a new environmental regulation on the air-conditioning industry, putting economic sanctions on North Korea (and some other countries) and so on.

Where are you from?
Fukuoka, Japan. (You should visit this wonderful place when you come to Japan, seriously!)

What is your favorite, most unique place you have ever been or traveled to?
Mykonos in Greece and Yakushima in Japan (both islands).

Who are your favorite writers?
Michael Ende, Riku Onda.

Who has been the greatest inspiration in your life?
My mother.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
I took the initiative to make a new policy, which had a big impact on various industries negotiating/communicating with counterparts outside and inside the Ministry, with only two-years of professional experience at that time.

Which living person do you most admire?
Too many to list here… I have so many of them including my family, friends, and professors who amazed and inspired me so much.

What has been a challenge you have faced during your career or time at Fletcher?
The work I mentioned above as one of my greatest achievements. Also, working under an awful manager in a very bureaucratic organization.

What has been your favorite moment at Fletcher so far?
Hanging out with friends, watching friends’ performances (and participating in some of them) at culture nights.

Zdenka (PhD Candidate)

What are you studying at Fletcher?
I am currently a PhD fellow at the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy (CIERP), conducting research on energy technology innovation policies. And I am F15 MALD, too!

What did you do before Fletcher?
I served in Mexico’s Energy Regulatory Commission as an economist, designing the regulation in the basic petrochemicals sector.

Where are you from?
I am from the Czech Republic. I was born in Prague.

What is your favorite, most unique place you have ever been or traveled to?
I loved visiting Iceland. It was stunning to see the pristine nature and its power, and I really liked that people seemed to respect the nature there, not try to dominate it. It’s the most northern place I’ve been to and the perspective on the shape of the Earth is quite different from that spot! The clouds and the sky were on the horizon, and the Earth looked round! 🙂

Another unique place is the region of Chiapas in Mexico – the clock just stopped ticking there. It was also my first time going to a rainforest. It’s one of the richest places in the world in terms of the biodiversity of fauna and flora!

Who are your favorite writers?
This has been changing over my life. But the very classics for me are Vaclav Havel, Jan Werich, Bohumil Hrabal, Jane Austen and William Styron. I will always love their books.

Who has been the greatest inspiration in your life?
The very ancient meaning of the word “inspiration” comes from the root that means “to breathe life into.” My deepest inspirations are my close friends and my colleagues. The exchange of ideas with them, planning events together, and wondering about the world truly breathes life into me.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Thanks to Fletcher, I came to a point in my life when I feel centered and aware of the complexity of the world and life, and at the same time motivated and empowered to embrace this complexity and explore it.

Which living person do you most admire?
I admire all those who aim to truly improve people’s lives and for whom glory and power are secondary. I also admire people who are willing to learn constantly, and those who might have been hurt, but didn’t immediately fight back and instead stayed in the learning mode. I also admire people who have the courage to go a step further and explore, to prove some status quo needs to be changed.

I really admire my friends – they embody this.

What has been a challenge you have faced during your career or time at Fletcher?
I think the challenge has been to stay truly focused on daily work while finding space to discover other fields of study/interest as well. It’s so easy to get distracted with all the interesting ideas and events that are around!

What has been your favorite moment at Fletcher so far?
I very much enjoyed graduation time at Fletcher. I did not expect it could be SUCH a joyful time — the students and their families, the faculty — they all seem genuinely happy, ready to celebrate and have fun! The atmosphere is truly unique.

Lupita Ervin (Administrative Coordinator)

What do you do at Fletcher?
Administrative Coordinator

What did you do before Fletcher?
I was an Administrative Assistant for the Vice President of a construction company; my favorite was when being a 411 information operator for New England Telephone.

Where are you from?
Boston, MA

What is your favorite, most unique place you have ever been or traveled to?
I had the honor of going to Talliores, France and St. Gallen, Switzerland in 2015 for a Fletcher School Global Leadership Program. Best experience ever. The picture attached is from my travels

Who are your favorite writers?
Terry McMillan and Stephen King

Who has been the greatest inspiration in your life?
My son

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Purchasing my first home.

Which living person do you most admire?
My mom, she molded me into the person I am today.

What has been a challenge you have faced during your career or time at Fletcher?
When I took four suitcases for the France/Switzerland trip. A girl can’t have too many clothes!!

What has been your favorite moment at Fletcher so far?
Receiving the 2017 Tufts University Distinction Award.

Monica Toft (Professor of International Politics)

What do you do at Fletcher?
I am Professor of International Politics and Director, Center for Strategic Studies. I research and teach on civil wars, intervention, religion, demography in relation to U.S. national security and foreign policy more generally.

What did you do before Fletcher?I taught at the University of Oxford and prior to that at Harvard’s Kennedy School. Attended graduate school at University of Chicago, undergrad at UC Santa Barbara, and before all that served in the U.S. Army as a Russian linguist.

Where are you from?
Sayville, New York, on the South shore of Long Island.

What is your favorite, most unique place you have ever been or traveled to?
Cinque Terre, Italy, the views, the treks, the food, and the wine!

Who are your favorite writers?
Anton Chekhov, George Orwell, and Ray Carver

Who has been the greatest inspiration in your life?
My mother. She taught me that most of life is a marathon rather than a sprint and what it means to commit to something.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
My children. They are turning out to be interesting and simply wonderful people.

Which living person do you most admire?
Currently Pope Francis. It is brave of him to try to move the Catholic Church into the 21st Century.

What has been a challenge you have faced during your career or time at Fletcher?
Balancing family and work. I love both aspects of my life, but just don’t seem to have enough time to enjoy them as fully as I would like.

What has been your favorite moment at Fletcher so far?
Meeting the alumni from the class of 1967 at graduation. They are such an impressive group. And working as China Control for Simulex 2017; witnessing the Taiwan team give the Chinese team such a hard time.

Our annual mid-winter treat is meeting the prospective students who attend the Open House for the Early Notification round. Twenty-something of these EN-admitted students will be hanging out on the seventh floor of Fletcher for much of the day, taking the elevator down whenever they want to attend a class.

The EN Open House is both (as I mentioned) a treat for us — turning paper applications into real people — and also a great opportunity for the attendees. The April Open House, to which all September 2018 admitted students will be invited, is a bit of a fun madhouse. Today’s event, by contrast, is mellow. Visitors will have ample opportunity to chat with each other, with current students, and with professors.

My contact with the visitors has been limited so far (signed in a few people and chatted over coffee with a few more), but I’ll be seeing more of them at lunch and then for a panel discussion with current students. I especially enjoy student panels, and the opportunity to hear first-hand about the Fletcher experience of people I might not meet otherwise, so I’m looking forward to that. Meanwhile, I’m happy to say that the weather is completely cooperative today. Sunny, bright, and not too cold, which has not always been the case for this event.

There’s no way that the Admissions Blog can be a comprehensive resource on all things Fletcher — it’s much too busy a place — but I do try to highlight activities that represent that busy-ness. To that end, I’ve been collecting all we’ve written on several of the research institutes. Take a look at the posts on these Fletcher groups:

Today’s update from the Class of 2012 is special in many ways. First, it has been written jointly by two MALD graduates, Aaron Morris and Ho-Ming So Denduangrudee. Second, Ho-Ming sent it along only a few days after bringing a new baby into their family. Third, Ho-Ming and Aaron make up one of the first Fletcher Couples I featured on the blog. Finally, as a first-year student, Ho-Ming wrote about her long path to Fletcher.

Pre-Fletcher

Similar to a lot of future Fletcher classmates, it turns out we lived and worked at random places at the same time: Boston, post-undergrad where Aaron worked in investment consulting and Ho-Ming worked as a research assistant and at a climbing gym; Thailand, where Aaron worked on the Thai-Burmese border with former political prisoners on advocacy projects, and Ho-Ming worked on indigenous rights and community development projects across the region; and Colorado, where Aaron valeted cars and ski bummed, and Ho-Ming worked for a small human rights defenders fund. Aaron knew he wanted to contribute to bridging the business and international development worlds, and Ho-Ming was interested in minority rights.

At Fletcher

We met on the first day of orientation and were on seemingly different tracks: Aaron was a development economics/security studies MALD and eventually became an advisee of Professor Block; Ho-Ming went to Fletcher to study human rights with Professor Hannum, who had previously taught one of her early mentors at the UN. At Fletcher, we were constantly challenged to work on and be exposed to topics beyond the scope of our respective foci, whether by each other or by our peers, professors, the curriculum, or the institution. We quickly learned there are no silos in our interrelated world, and a Fletcher education continually underscores this. Some horizon-broadening moments were more trying than others — for instance, that semester when Aaron convinced Ho-Ming that taking Professor Jacque’s Corporate Finance class would be a great idea. It is a great idea. There may be some tears and terror alongside learning, but it is worth it. (Opposite of a pro tip: if you actively try to avoid eye contact, rest assured, Professor Jacques will call on you.)

Post Fletcher

After graduation, Aaron took a job in Jakarta with the ASEAN basketball league in business development and strategy, and Ho-Ming signed on to work on indigenous rights and sustainable development as part of a United Nations forestry initiative. In four wonderful years in Indonesia, Aaron ended up taking a job as a management consultant at Bain & Co., and Ho-Ming returned to community-based work through the Samdhana Institute.

Our Fletcher roots continue to manifest throughout our careers and lives. While Ho-Ming was at the UN, Professor Moomaw facilitated key introductions to support the Government of Indonesia delegation during global climate change COPs, Fletcher alumni and students joined us as colleagues at various moments in our respective careers, alumni were generous with sharing their networks and many became close friends. We even managed to expand the community in a small way, when a dear colleague and friend opted to attend Fletcher for a mid-career MA. We were fortunate to be able to attend his graduation in Medford, which coincided with our five year reunion.

We are currently located in San Francisco, prompted by an internal transfer opportunity through Aaron’s work. Ho-Ming has kept a foot in Southeast Asia, building fun partnerships, including this one one linking the outdoor industry, climbing, and an incredible indigenous activist/regional MP to pilot ecotourism and support indigenous tenure security in remote Eastern Indonesia. She’s recently taken on a new position strengthening institutional partnerships at Build Change, a social enterprise focused on enhancing disaster resilience and recovery for low income neighborhoods in emerging markets.

Fletcher expanded our horizons and imbued in us a truly interconnected perspective on the world. On the macro policy and industry level, this has been invaluable. On a civic and personal level, particularly in divisive times, we are grateful that Fletcher taught us — above all — to listen and always be mindful of a bigger picture. We might not always agree, but Fletcher has emphasized to us the importance of trying to understand. As partners, as parents, we strive to serve as resources for each other and, we hope, a wider community that bridges industries, nationalities, and worldviews. At Fletcher, we were given the tools to foster similarities that drive all of us, to strengthen the connections between us and, not least, to be thoughtful and reflective — to engage and look for ways to be inclusive, share responsibilities. and be thoughtful about how we can create a better world.